Celestial Diary

Coming Friday will be a busy day, a big celebration for all those who know what love is. A day where people suddenly remember their loved one and friends and choose to celebrate them. This second week I looked for what love meant for Christians? The answer is God; God is love.

1 John 4:7-8
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.

1 John 4:16
“So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.”

The Bible doesn’t just say that God is loving; it declares that God IS love. Every action of His is motivated by love. His love is unconditional, sacrificial, transformative, and everlasting.

The Story of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32)

This story is a perfect representation of how the human races interacts with God. We have been promised an everlasting inheritance. Yet we are easily tempted by the things of the world and like to go off on our own paths, thinking we know best

After getting into trouble we suddenly remember we have a powerful Father who can give us anything we want and we go back crawling to Him asking for forgiveness.

Our Father who is forever merciful, is there waiting for us with open arms. There is no sense of malice in His love and patience for us even after we betrayed Him.

He gives us countless opportunities to redeem ourselves after turning our backs on Him.

His love for us is unconditional. He doesn’t forgive us because of certain rituals or behaviors. He forgives us because He loves us and wants us to continue dwelling in His presence. No matter how far we stray, He welcomes us back with open arms.

Many people believe they have to “fix” themselves before coming to God. That’s not true, the prodigal son didn’t wait until he earned money before going back to His Father. He recognized His mistake and was humble enough to ask for forgiveness without any malicious intention.

The sacrifice of Jesus Christ (John 3:16)

In philosophy there is a classic dilemma called the Trolley problem.

Imagine a runaway trolley (train cart) speeding down a track. Ahead, five people are tied to the tracks and cannot move. You are standing next to a lever that can switch the trolley onto a different track. However, on that second track, there is one person tied down.

You have two choices:

Pull the lever – The trolley switches tracks, saving the five but killing the one.

Do nothing – The trolley continues on its current track and kills the five people.

There is no right or wrong answer, the dilemma tries to make us think about ethical questions and check our morals. I always say I wouldn’t pick, I’ll just let the train go wherever it was destined to go so I have no blood on my hands.

Now imagine that 1 person on the second track was your child, sibling, parent or even friend. Will this make the decision easier or more difficult?

God made a decision; He chose to sacrifice HIS SON that was tied down on the second track. He did this so we could live and yet, we tend to not show gratitude for this great sacrifice.

John 15:13  “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” Meaning that the greatest expression of love was when Jesus took our place on the cross.

The Woman Caught in Adultery (John 8:1-11)

John 8:7 says ‘Let anyone who is without sin cast the first stone’.
Jesus never said she shouldn’t be punished according to the law. All He did was remind them that none of them were without sin.
They were so eager to stone her to death, forgetting that they themselves have disobeyed some of the laws of Moses.

Humans are always so eager to blame, judge and punish others while God, who is blameless and without sin doesn’t condemn us.

John 8:11; Jesus sent her away but clearly told her ‘Go now and leave your life of sin.’
Till today, He still shows us this same mercy. He forgives us whenever we sin, even after sacrificing Himself on the cross for our sins. All He expects in return is that we LEAVE our sinful life.

• We tend to forget this part of forgiveness. Just because we’re forgiven doesn’t mean we should go back to doing the same things (Proverbs 26:11).

The book of 2 Corinthians 5:17 says “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” This shows how God’s love can transform us to a better version of ourselves.

The Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37)

From this verse we can see what the two greatest commandments are; Loving our God and loving our neighbors.
If we can do these two then we can automatically obey all the other rules God has given to us.

God gave them a practical example of how we can show love; A story where one helps the needy.

Love is more than a feeling, it’s more than nice words. It has to be backed with action or else it is meaningless. This story not only reflects God’s love in action, it also shows how God expects us to show love to others.

Stay Blessed x